Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Agriculture and Water and Land Use, to which was referred H.B. No. 2150 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to establish a temporary Task Force on Agricultural Industry Development (Task Force) that will identify ways to:

(1) Improve the viability of agriculture in Hawaii;

(2) Expand agricultural opportunities; and

Office of Planning, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, the University of Hawaii, and Hawaii's Thousand Friends. The Agribusiness Development Corporation, Department of Land and Natural Resources, and the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation supported the intent of this bill.

Your Committees recognize that the appropriation for this Task Force lapses after June 30, 2003. However, the Task Force will likely be performing its duties subsequent to this date since the deadline for the final report to be submitted to the Legislature extends into December 2003. Your Committees support future legislative efforts to address this potential concern with respect to funding for the Task Force.

Upon further consideration, your Committees have amended this measure by:

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Water and Land Use that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2150, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2150, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.